Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-06
DOWN In A COAL NINE.
IN THE BLACK DIAMONDS HOME
NINETY FEET UNDER GROUND.

NINE FE6I UNDER GRCUND.
Life and Labor by Lamplight-scen and
Unseen Perils of the Miners Occupa-
tion-A Stroll Through Underground
Avenues" Shooting Down"
Having supplied ourselves with small lamps
We go ahead. The avenue through which we
are travelling is thirty or forty feet wide, the
roof high enough to allow US to walk erect,
and the ground dry and dusty. Now and
then we meet a train Of three cars being
hauled by one mule Sometimes these trains
suddenly etnere from side entries. the exist
ence of which never would have been s;ls-
pected by stranger, and finally, as mule,
driver and train crawl out of one evidently
of more magnitude than any We have passed,
Dir. *. remarks: Let's go in here We
enter, and after travelling quarter of mile
land ii a chamber where men are at work
filing cars with coal that has been blown
down with powder. Holes are bored into
the face of the stratum with drill operated
by compressed air, which is sent into the
mine through iron pipes connecting with q
powerful compressor in the engine room
aboTe These drills run at lightning speed,
boring hole an inch and half in diameter
and six feet deep in less than three min
utes. Then the machine is moved to an
other point six or eight feet distant and an
other hole bored. The three sides of the
room are thus penetrated with holes, into
which blasts are inserted, the fuse attached
and then the miner connects the wire of an
electrical hand dynamo with ore fuse at a
IF f. J.
the circuit-there is flash, jar, and
several hundred bushels of mineral come
down with a tremendous crash. The other
blasts are touched or in the same way, with
similar results, and then the man with the
drill and the electrical battery loads them on
his tool car" moves out to the main line
and hunts up another chamber.
Returning to the main avenue we move
forward until we arrive at n chamber where
a machine is at work. These machines are
also operated by compressed cir. moving
back and forth against the wall of coal and
breaking it down by penetrating it with
powerful iron fork. The implement is placed
on trucks that move on an iron track, and Is
SO constructed that the prong will cover an
arc Of six feet in its immediate front The
truck and the machine can be moved at ease
and without the loss of much time. and when
operated on full time does the work of ten
men. Mir. Brandenberger, the general super
intendent Of the mine, whom we met at this
point, stated that the difficulty with the ma
chimes was that they were constantly getting
out of ORDER and, it being necessary to take
them ont Of the mine for repair, which some
times cost as much as the machine when new,
IA did wac r1,,cI ca ,-aI he
long run over hand mining Sometimes a
machine would be virtually ruined from
sudden fall OF Slate or shale or contact with
q mass of sulphuret OF iron When at work,
moving back and forth, sending their iron
tongues into the black bosom of six a foot vein
Of coal, each attack being followed by a crash
and a tumble of perhaps a ton of mineral
they present an effect on the senses both won
derful and startling They are somewhat more
dangerous than hand mining, from the fact
that they are more sudden in their effects,
and at all times and in all mines the operator
must look out for sudden falls of slate.
a general stroll through the mine covered
a distance OF about two miles, and led through
many avenues and streets running at right
angles or parallel to each other, just like
streets and avenues in city, and laid out
with as much mathematical precision. IN all
mines i'll this part OF the country pillars of
coal are left standing to support the roof,
and these pillars may be compared with the
buildings covering blocks Of ground in the
city, the entries, as they are called by miners,
being the streets surrounding the buildings
The end Of the avenue, or where actual mining
is going on, IS called a chamber, and during
our walk we found men at work in nearly all
of tho latter. Through every avenue is laid
an iron tramway over which the coal must
be hauled in the dummy cars to the bottom
of the shaft. In tramping about You are apt
to come in collision with a train OF these dunn
mics at any moment, and TO avoid accidents
recesses are sunk into the walls at regular dis
tances, into which you can step and lie per
fcctly safe
Here and there wide avenues are driven of |
from the main avenue to distant points, |
when smaller ones are pushed ont like the !
roots Of tree, with the exception that they |
generally run at regular angles to each other, |
50 that il the course of time q labyrinth Is |
formed out OF which the unfamiliar explorer |
would never find his way except by the |
nerest accident The miner s03l becomes |
rs familiar to them, however, as does any
resident of a city to its streets, and when he /
enters the mine never gets lost or confused ID /
the journey to his chamber. lie IS assisted, |
however, very materially By the numbering /
IF every avenue, a placaTd being hung up at |
The entrance Of each on which is painted the |
proper numbers In our journey VIC passed |
through about fifty Of these avenues. In one
Dr. two OF them we were compelled 10 stCGE
considerably in moving forward, but in al
Jthers tbs ceilings were 10, las5 than seven
Get high.
The ground under foot was smooth and dry,
be atmosphere pure and tho temperature
about 60 Fahrenheit. Tie volume Of air sent
through ell Parts OF the mine by mems OF the
an keeps /. clear OF smoke, fcul gas or the
unpleasant ojor emitted from The small Oh
amps worn il the cap, Ct tic workmen |
Ipon first entering the mine The darkness Il
intense. buo in q few moments The eyes APP
ear 70 overcome il, and a sort OF weird twi-
lgLt surrounds you, through which objects
aav b seen several rods The further TIE
ainc l. penetrated the les intense the dark
Iess seems . bccona 4 might naturally
e supposed the acoustics Of the mine arc
.erfect. Low tones and even whispers Of the
u-nan vc.ce may he heard great distances.
)uring the journey we heard a Tremendous
rash which appeared 70 be within few fest
as, but M companion, seeing that vas
1uewhat startled, remarked that il was
1u5cd By thc shooting down Of Z mass o.
cal nearly 1000 fcst away. Distance and
,caIity cut Is much OF figure in 4 mine as
,ev DO on the surface Of the earth Miners
III tel you that room No. - IS quarter
mile away; that IS 70 reach il you must
o down 70. Il 10 Va. -, turn TO the right
I'd walk f5ur blocks, then 10 the left one
lock, and you can't yeip finding II. FOL